First Thanksgiving
by XanAxe14
Summary: This will be Dottie's first Thanksgiving since her life changed so drastically. A new place, her worst enemy being planes, but at least she'll be with three people she deeply cares about. Though Dottie's insecurities of normalcy may hinder what tradition means to her.
1. Chapter 1

**1**

Dottie O'Connor wanted to cry. She was rushing around trying to pick up the things that had been left out in the costume department. Mr. Abernathy had somehow managed to forget to tell the haulers to come pick up the things that were supposed to go to the next location, like some backup costumes for some of the superstars. She had just packed up her sewing machine after Monday Night Raw, which resulted in Braun Strowman getting hurt, her boyfriend of less than a few months Finn Balor was getting his neck looked at by some of the trainers…

As these worries accumulated through her head, with Thanksgiving plans still up in the air, and her chest feeling like it was going to cave in at any moment, hot tears started to fall down her face as she got the last of the things put away.

"Need help?" She turned around and looked at the woman at the doorway.

Renee Young, as she was known in the WWE, stood wearing a black leather jacket that her husband of just over a year Dean Ambrose had recently gotten her.

"I just finished." She wiped at her eyes and looked around. "Mr. Abernathy was supposed to get the haulers but he has not been back for," she pulled her phone out. "An hour. I am supposed to go straight to the hotel with Fergal so we can get ready to leave for Colby's home…"

"Dottie, Dottie," Renee grasped her arms. "Take a deep breath. Slow your breathing. You are going to have a heart attack."

"That's highly unlikely. There is not plaque in my arteries, I eat well. I even started joining Fergal on his morning jogs. I don't drink, I don't smoke." She said in a ramble.

"You're panicking, Dottie. You need to stop and take deep breaths." Renee ran her hands up and down Dottie's arms. "Come on. What does Drew's wife tell you when you're like this?"

"Count to four. One on breath in, two on breath out. Square breathing helps." She closed her eyes and counted One breath in, Two on breath out, Three on breath in and Four on breath out.

She repeated this sequence twice. So it took twelve breaths to calm her down, though her hand still shook.

"I'll go and get the Production Manager and see about getting the Costume Department stuff going." Renee said.

"Okay, that would be great. Thank you." Dottie nodded then she took another deep breath. "I'm also worrying about Braun, and Fergal of course. Drew said that accidents happen, Colby told me about when he hurt Fergal by accident at Summer Slam one time for the Universal Championship. I feel sorry for Braun."

"Braun might not be seriously hurt. He may be back in time for Raw next Monday. Right now, you need to assess what needs to be done. First, the Costume Department, which I already said I would handle for you." Renee smiled. "So let me go look for the Production Manager and we'll see about getting this place emptied out for you. Are you taking your sewing machine?"

"No, Colby said that they have one at his place. You know, just for me."

"That's nice of them to think about you like that." The blond Canadian said, which was soon followed by a smile.

Renee left to find the Production Manager. This left Dottie alone in the costume department. She triple checked to see if there were anything that still needed to go. She had folded the table, she had put all the extra costumes in the crates that they sometimes used. She had made sure to mark the crate the housed her sewing machine so that no one would accidentally forget it.

As she was looking through all of this stuff, fretting about how they looked unsecured, someone cleared their throat.

"Renee said you were worried about me, Little Dot." The man known as Braun Strowman said.

He looked different in street clothes, he didn't wear the funny pants he usually did during the show. This time, he had an ice pack on his elbow since his arm was in a sling.

"I have to go to the hospital to get my elbow checked out. I wanted to drop by and tell you myself that I'm okay." He smiled at her. "Well, for the most part."

The big bearded man may have loomed over everyone, even Fergal, but he wasn't the gravelly voiced man that was the Monster Among Men that the fans knew about. Plus he called her Little Dot, which was something she enjoyed.

"You promise to get better?" She asked, biting at her lower lip.

"Of course. It just means I'm getting those three back for what they did."

Her mouth opened, because one of the three men that hurt him was Drew McIntyre. He was her best friend.

"No, Little Dot, I mean in the show. Not in real life, Little Dot. We all know the risks of the business." Braun said.

"Oh, oh yeah. I forgot." She shoved her ponytail over her shoulder.

"Sometimes the fan forget that we're also humans." The Monster Among Men said. "I'll let you get back to it, then. Your boyfriend better be treating you right for Thanksgiving, or I'll have something to say about it." He smiled at her.

She laughed. Braun was funny. He really did well with kids. He had a Superman logo tattooed on his arm, and he was a strong man, who could lift heavy objects.

"Keep me in the loop with how you are doing." Dottie said.

"Will do, Little Dot. Well, I'm off. Wish me luck."

She learned not to doubt luck, she was lucky that she had a job at all after everything that she had been through with her mom, and with her relationship with Fergal the way it was.

As the times changed, as her sister was getting her life together in Iowa, her Dad going off to help Orangutans in Borneo, and her having a job, it was all changes that she could not control. Facts she could control because they were pre-existing. But personal changes in life were different.

"Lovely," Fergal said as he walked into the room. "Are you ready?"

"No, I'm not. Mr. Abernathy left an hour ago, I have no idea where he's at and I had to pack everything up." She turned to look at him.

Fergal Devitt was an extraordinary man. He had a grace about him that she knew she did not possess. She had no sense of space around her but he easily leaned his rolling suitcase next to the wall and put his backpack down. He was dressed in his usual black graphic tee shirt, some nice form fitting jeans and his trademark black and white sneakers. His hair was still wet from the shower he obviously took, she could smell his familiar body wash from where she was standing.

"Renee said she would find the Production Manager and see about getting some of the haulers in here to take the stuff away." Dottie said in a calmer voice as her boyfriend stood less than a foot in front of her. "Why do we have to fly to Iowa?"

"Because we'll get to Chicago and your sister will be picking us up with Mrs. Lopez."

"At least we three have a row to ourselves on the flight." Colby said as he stood at the doorway. "Of course I'll have the bigger issue than you two short sticks."

"The more people fly, the smaller the sitting spaces get." Dottie commented as she turned away and looked at the things around her. "I don't want to think about the noises. And there is that storm that is cancelling all sorts of flights."

"At least we're not going to New York." Colby said. "It's going to be the cold and windy, they may have to cancel the balloons in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. You don't want to have Snoopy getting impaled on the Empire State Building and scar the minds of all those little kids, do you?"

"Yeah, then you have the Chrysler Building that is just as pointy. And what if they get out of Manhattan?"

"Well there is The Statue of Liberty." Colby added.

Images of big balloons flying off, Snoopy impaled on the Empire State Building. One image was of Lady Liberty and instead of holding the torch, she was holding a Turkey balloon. Dottie covered her mouth as she giggled from the thoughts her boyfriend and friend had put in her mind.

"I'm off. Hugs, Dot." Drew McIntyre said from the doorway.

She started for him but stopped. "Why should I? You hurt Braun." She crossed her arms and pouted at him.

"Dottie, I apologized to him…"

Then she smiled. "I know, I was joking. He already stopped by to tell me that he had to go to the hospital." She finished walking up to the tall Scotsman. "Give Ms. Kaitlin a hug for me. And tell her thank you for helping Cait out with her things."

Drew chuckled. Instead of the one arm hug that she was used to giving to people, well people who understood her, she changed her tactics with those around her. Drew was officially a member of her two armed hugs. She rather enjoyed how small she was compared to his huge height of six foot five inches.

"Have a happy Thanksgiving, Dottie." Drew pulled back.

"You, too." She smiled at him.

Soon he left. But he was replaced soon by the Production Manager, Mr. Sylvan. He did not really interact with the costume department, at least not with Dottie. She fixed things for the superstars, he mainly dealt with the heads of each department. He was old, kind of Mr. H, or Triple H, old but not elderly. He had some gray in his hair.

"Oh, Ms. O'Connor. Thank you for packing up. It seemed like there was an issue with Abernathy's health so suddenly, though I highly doubt that. But thank you for stepping up to the plate and packing up. I'll make sure the haulers take care of everything."

"So I can go now?" She glanced back at Fergal, who seemed to be in deep conversation with Colby.

"Yep, you're all set to go. Have a happy Thanksgiving."

"Fergal, Colby, we can go now." Dottie said.

"Great, let's get out of here." Colby said as he picked up Dottie's nearby jacket. "Don't want you to forget this, it's going to be cold out there."

She grabbed it and picked up Fergal's backpack before he had a chance and danced out of his reach with it.

"I don't want you to carry this heavy thing around. You could hurt your neck worse." She kept backing up until she bumped into someone.

She dropped the backpack as long and big arms wrapped themselves around her upper body. The coarse beard of Dean Ambrose brushed up against the side of her face. "Going somewhere, Darlin' Dot? You're not going to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving before you go?"

"I…" she squeaked as her feet left the ground as she was lifted up in a bizarre bear hug where her upper back popped. "Jon Good, put me down."

"Not until you say it, Dot." He said.

He wasn't holding her tight at all. It just felt strange to have tall people able to pick her up without a problem. But Jon wasn't a normal man and he had to remind her of it.

"Have a Happy Thanksgiving, asshole."

And he was a vulgar man that had been encouraging her to call him asshole.

"See, was that so hard to do?" He put her down and she turned to look at him. "Have fun with big nose."

"Hey!" Colby yelled, but the smile on his face told Dottie he wasn't insulted, or not mad at least.

Dottie picked up Fergal's backpack and her jacket. "I'll see you Monday, Jon. Bye, Renee." She waved at the woman who was standing by.

Colby, Fergal and Dottie left for the hotel. She knew she had to get a good night's sleep because Tuesday meant that they were flying out to Iowa to be with Colby's family, and Cait. They would have to be there early in the morning, and get on the gosh awful plane in an equally gosh awful and crowded airport.

At least she would have Colby and Fergal with her.

* * *

 **This is a Part of the Dottie Saga but I felt it needed it's own place. I hope you liked it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Dottie hugged Fergal's arm like it was a life line. She needed him so that she could press her ear up against her shoulder, which meant she could cover the other one with her hand and close her eyes.

The airport was busy. It was the busiest even at five in the morning as they stood in line to check in their bags. The noise level was just as bad as a live show.

"Dottie," Colby's voice was muffled, she had to lift her head and look at him. When she did she was bombarded by noise. But she had to focus on him. "You need to put your bag on the belt."

Dottie looked at her backpack and the suitcase she had with her. Her only thought was what belt?

"Help me," her hand was shaking faster.

"Sure."

He picked her things up and put them on the bag check belt. She had nothing that would be considered dangerous, not even nail clippers.

They had to go through security, and the city they were in had a TSA stop. Dottie knew that TSA was a random check and it was one of those things she also hated about planes and airports.

"You, over here." One rotund woman said, grabbing Dottie by her arm, who wore a blue shirt and tan pants.

It was because she wasn't acting normal, she was holding onto Fergal for dear life.

"I'm autistic." She rocked where she stood.

"That doesn't change anything. This way," the woman pulled on her arm.

Fergal told her it was okay. He had to go through the pat down at one airport so if he could do it then she could as well. She had to deal with a person touching her that wasn't a hug. She had to stand in an area away from everyone else as she watched the woman pat her arms down and then leaned down to pat her legs.

The entire thing was enough to bring tears to Dottie's eyes. At the end of it, she was unable to stand still as the woman patted up under her breasts.

"Okay, you can go." The woman motioned to where Fergal was standing nearby with Colby.

She hugged her boyfriend's arm, burying her face into his arm. He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair as he guided her away towards the end of the security checkpoint.

"You did great, Dottie." Colby said, his voice close to her head so that she could focus on it.

They waited for their plane to Chicago. Fatigue started to set in, it was still morning and it seemed like more and more people were coming into that one airport. Some were stuck there because their flights were cancelled and…

Dottie saw Santa Claus walking through the airport. She lifted her head off of Fergal's shoulder and watched as the Father of Christmas came through with a small bag. He was not the funny fake bearded Santa that she had seen, this man actually had a real looking beard. He looked huge up close, kind of like a white haired Braun Strowman.

"Ho Ho Ho," he laughed at something a small child said, his hand going over his stomach and his whole body shook in that laughter.

What was unique about him, his coat had a rip in the shoulder. If she only had her sewing machine she would have…

"Hello there, young lady. I saw you watching from afar." The Santa man said as he strolled up to her. He'd broken her out of her thoughts. "You look sad, would a candy cane help?"

"No," she declined. "I mean, children should have that. You coat is ripped." She pointed to his shoulder. "I'm a seamstress, I can fix it for you but they don't allow sewing needles and threads."

"Oh," he looked at the rip. "Well, my wife is always complaining that I eat too much cookies, you know. In fact, today before I stopped by to see these kids who were stuck in the airport on the day before Thanksgiving, she had me pick up a sewing kit."

He pulled it out of his pocket of the large coat he was wearing.

"I can mend it for you." She stood up fast, letting go of Fergal's hand. "I mean, I'm Dottie O'Connor."

"Dottie, such a pleasing name." His whiskers moved as he smiled. "Sure, that would be wonderful. I'll leave you with my coat while I go tend to the children."

She nodded.

She got right to work when that Santa man left her with the large coat. She sat back down in her seat, popped open the sewing kit and found a red thread to thread through the needle head.

It didn't take her long to get lost in her tradecraft. Even though it wasn't her sewing machine, she was still practicing with hand sewing any chance she got. She brought the two parts of the seam together just enough so that she could work on the coat.

"That was kind of you, Dottie." Fergal said as his hand rubbed up and down her back as she was hunched over her knees working.

"Uh huh," she said, but she counted to four stitches and then back to one again as she made extra sure that the seam was right and tight.

Pulling the coat sleeve back out, she examined the tear. It didn't look like there was ever one there. She had done a good job, once again. No sooner had she done that, Santa was back, his small sack of candy canes empty, except save for the one in his hand.

"There, see, I fixed it." She put the thread and needle back in the sewing kit.

"And in time for us to get on our plane." Colby said as he stood up.

"Thank you, Dottie. I'll be sure to add you on the Nice List this year."

"But there is no such thing as…" Fergal clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from saying what she was going to say.

"I would not want to ruin the happiness of the kids, Lovely." He said in her ear. "Let them think that, okay?"

She nodded.

They got their stuff ready. Dottie said goodbye to the Santa man and then they went off to their gate to board.

Planes, it was another issue she had. If airports were big and loud, places were small and louder. Especially if she was sitting next to the engine on the wings where the jets were.

Luckily she was sitting towards the front of the plane, not First Class but Business. Because they worked for the WWE it was not hard to get a business ticket. There, they at least had some better leg room than the basic economy class. Dottie ended up sitting directly between Fergal, who had the window and Colby, who was on the aisle seat.

"Here." Colby dug some headphones out of his backpack. "Bose noise cancelling headphones. You'll be able to feel calmer."

"Thank you, Colby." She said as she took the headphones.

Taking off was like a roller coaster, at least that was what it felt like. She grasped Fergal's hand and then the armrest on her right. Dottie squeezed her eyes closed as the velocity at which the plane took off and the trajectory it was on pressed her back into her seat.

Colby's hand came and rested on hers, holding it like Fergal was holding her other hand. She glanced at him and Colby was smiling at her. His hand was rougher than Fergal's because of all the weights he lifted.

The left ear piece lifted off her head. "Breathe, Lovely. You're not breathing. Remember to take your breaths and count to four." Fergal said.

So she did, trying to ignore the vibrations of the plane. One and breath in, Two and breath out, Three and breathe in and Four with a breath out. She repeated it until the plane settled down into a normal vibration rather than the mild earthquake shaking she thought it was doing earlier.

Planes would forever be her downfall, that and airports.

* * *

A hand shaking her shoulder woke Dottie up. She'd fallen asleep against Fergal's shoulder and hugging his arm. Through the entire ride she slept, which meant she had to go through the prep of landing, which was just as bad.

"You're doing okay, Dottie." Colby said as he rubbed her knee and then handed her the fallen headphones again.

It worked in reverse, now the trajectory angled towards the ground as the plane descended from the sky onto the tarmac of the airport. This time, both men held her hands. In some ways, the descent was worse than the take off, if it meant more shaking from the plane. Was it going to shake itself apart or something?

Finally, with some prodding from Fergal on her getting to breathe, Dottie felt the bump of the wheels hitting ground. They jumped a little and finally they were coasting up to the O'Hare Airport.

"Oh thank goodness," Dottie mumbled as the plane started to slow down.

"See, it's not all that bad." She heard Fergal say, and then he patted her hand.

As people started getting off the plane, Dottie sat. She breathed, she took her deep breaths as Fergal and Colby got their things out from the overhead compartments. She breathed deeper when it was just the three of them to disembark from the plane. It was then, that she had to face yet another place that had too many people and too many noises.

But none of that mattered when she saw her sister. Cait waved her hand in the air, smiling.

"Sisser!" Cait yelled, and Dottie dropped her bags to run up to her younger sister.

Cait O'Connor may have been Dottie's younger sister, but Cait was more of the older sister type for Dottie. If it hadn't been for Cait then Dottie wouldn't have her job, she wouldn't have met Fergal and wouldn't have the friends that she acquired. Even the Asshole that was Jon Good.

Dottie hugged her sister, not considering the woman that was standing next to her redhead sister.

"I missed you so much, Cait." She said when she pulled back.

"I know, I know. But I'm here now for a little bit. Let's enjoy it together."

Taking Cait's hand, Dottie pulled her along and pushed her towards Colby, knowing that he had missed Cait just as much as Dottie had. The smile on Fergal's handsome face told her that she had done something good. As Colby kissed and hugged Cait, Fergal pulled Dottie under his arm.

"Guys, this is my Mom. Holly Franklin." Colby introduced them. "You obviously know who this idiot is." That comment was pointed at Fergal.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Franklin." Dottie said, forcing herself to offer her hand to the unknown woman.

"It's a pleasure. Thank you for allowing us to join you for the holiday." Fergal said when he shook the woman's hand.

"If you're as uncomfortable about this place as I am, let's get a move on. Brandon said he would dog sitting while we came to get you."

"You have a dog?" Dottie asked, her eyes wide. "What kind? Is it small? Or is it a medium to big dog?"

"Kevin is a Yorkie. He's my dog, actually." Colby said as he took Cait's hand. "Come on, we have to get our extra luggage."

She would have to wait to meet the rest of Colby's family, and dog apparently.

"Are you okay now, Dottie?" Fergal asked.

She nodded as she looked at the back of Cait's head. "Cait is almost two months along, she won't be showing for a while." She said.

"No, I don't suppose she will be."

"Fergal, I…" she stopped when guilt boiled up in her chest as she passed by a few men in black suits with briefcases.

"What, Lovely? You know you can tell me anything."

"I'm sorry if I did something wrong." She sighed and looked at the ground in front of her as she walked. "I'm sorry that I embarrassed you when we were waiting for the plane and on the plain."

"Don't." He pulled her towards him a little more. "You never embarrass me for what is bothering you. You know that. What about now, you're not covering your ears."

"No, I guess I'm not." She squeezed his hand. "I just want this trip to be special."

"Anywhere that you are, it's special enough for me." He kissed the side of her head as they found the luggage claim.

* * *

 **There you guys go. Hope your Holiday was special. I'll be back with a few more updates with this story tomorrow.**


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

Dottie learned that Colby lived in a rather large house. A house? It looked more like a castle as they drove up in the driveway.

"It's so good to be home." Colby said as they got out of the SUV his mother brought.

Mrs. Franklin, she did not correct Dottie when she was addressed as such, got out from the passenger side seat. "Kevin has been protecting Cait since she got here."

"Yorkshire Terriers were bred to protect homes, like little alarm systems." Dottie said as she got out of the car. "They bark a lot, in alert, mostly."

"Yeah, Kevin never shuts up. Sounds like someone I know." Cait said in a tone that Dottie couldn't catch but she did see a small smile on her face directed at Colby.

Inside the big house, a little dog came running up. Like all terrier breeds, it was barking. Colby knelt down to pick it up but it ran around him and straight up to Cait. Dottie laughed as the little dog hopped on its hind legs so that Cait could pick it up.

"Really, Kevin?" Colby asked the small dog whose attention turned from Cait and started smelling Dottie.

"May I hold him?" Dottie asked.

"By all means, do it." Cait said as she handed the dog off to Dottie.

"Yorkies are hypoallergenic, because their fur is more like human hair." Dottie said as she walked with the small dog in her arms.

Just feeling the fur, feeling the small little creature in her embrace was good enough for her to ignore that there were other people in the house besides their little close knit group.

"Well that's rude." A guy Dottie had never met said.

"Brandon, stop. It's okay." Mrs. Franklin said as Dottie looked over at the guy who was standing nearby.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was rude. Hi," She stood up with the small dog tucked into her arms. "I'm Dottie O'Connor."

The man had Colby's hair, even some of the same facial structure. Colby had told her at one point that he had an older brother. But his brother sort of eyed Dottie strangely, to the point she moved so she was back next to Fergal.

"Dude, that's rude." Colby crossed his arms. "That's Dottie you're talking about, Bran."

"I didn't mean it, I'm sorry." Dottie said.

"Come on, Sisser, we know you." Cait said. "I'll show you where you can stay for Thanksgiving. Come on, just ignore that jerk face."

Dottie looked at Fergal, who smiled slightly. She knew she was rude, she'd just been so excited to see the dog who licked away her single tear that fell from her cheek.

Cait escorted Fergal and Dottie upstairs. It hadn't seemed so big on the outside but Dottie liked the smaller apartment better. Her home with Fergal was comfortable, there was just too much space.

"I really am sorry, Cait. I didn't mean to be rude. Today has been hard." Dottie said.

"I know, I know how much you hate flying. Colby knows, I made sure to warn Holly about some of your problems. I got the room ready just for you." Cait said as she opened a door to one of the upstairs rooms.

The bed had black covers with black pillows. Sitting in the corner of the room was a sewing machine.

Putting Kevin down, Dottie went to inspect the new sewing machine. The little dog trotted along after her.

"I even got you some bolts of cloth to do something with." Cait said.

"Thank you, Cait. I like this room better now." She turned and smiled at her sister.

"I'll just go get our things. Time out, Dottie." Fergal said from the door. When she looked at him he smiled at her.

She nodded as she sat down on the bed and then fell back.

Fergal came back with their things a little bit later. He put the luggage down next to the closet and crawled up on the bed so that he was right behind Dottie. She was laying on her side petting Kevin the Yorkie, who was snoozing with his head on her arm.

The headache she had was from all the excitement she had throughout the day. The time out meant that she could be quiet and not interact with anyone, but Fergal always knew what to do. He wrapped his arm around her stomach and pressed his face into the back of her head. He often kissed her hair, played with it or just simply rubbed her stomach.

Dottie reached down, grabbed Fergal's hand and brought it up to her mouth so she could kiss his knuckles.

"Love you, Dottie." Fergal mumbled.

"I love you, too, Fergal." She said as she hugged his hand into her chest.

* * *

Dottie woke up later. There was a high pitched alarm going off and it wasn't a cell phone. She froze, burying her head under the pillow so that she couldn't hear the headache inducing screeching scream of something. Even with her head covered, Dottie could still hear the high pitched wailing alarm going off.

The sound didn't last long, but it was long enough for her to realize that Kevin wasn't there, Fergal wasn't either. She sat up and smoothed down her hair. She did smell something though, something that smelled burnt.

As she got to the top of the stairs, she heard people with raised voices.

"I swear, Colby." Mrs. Franklin then coughed.

"Bleeding hell," Fergal cursed.

She went downstairs and to her right was the kitchen, which smelt like smoke.

"I didn't know! I'm half tired!" Colby's raised voice.

"Get out of here, Colby. I'll clean it up." Cait said as Dottie got to the doorway that went into the kitchen.

The smell of smoke was thick. There were windows open and Mrs. Franklin was scraping something that was on a stove.

"What happened?" Dottie asked as Kevin ran up to her.

"I tried to make something to eat, that's all, Dot. I'm just tired." Colby said as he ran his hands over his head.

"And I said we could just order pizza." Cait grumbled as she was throwing something away in the trash can.

Fergal stood at a side door, the cold Iowa air was coming in and fanning some of the smell out with a newspaper.

"If you're tired, you need to go to sleep." Dottie looked at Colby.

"Yeah, go to bed, Big Guy." Cait added as she turned to look at him. "You drove all the way back from Chicago, you need to sleep."

"I slept on the plane." He rubbed his face.

"Colby," Dottie mimicked what he did. "Go sleep, even if it is for an hour. Please." She then pulled on his black hoodie to get his attention. "Please?"

"Fine, fine. I'm going." He threw his hands up and yet he still walked away.

He stomped up the stairs and a moment later the sound of a door slamming was heard from where Dottie stood.

"He's always doing something like this." Mrs. Franklin said as she looked at Dottie. "I'm sorry you had to get woken up to that noise."

"I'm just glad that the kitchen didn't burn down." She looked around. "What did he do, anyway?"

"Oddly enough, burnt a pan of food." Fergal said. He left the door open then walked up to Dottie to give her a kiss. "Sleep well?"

She nodded. "I did. But now I'm wide awake. What can I do?"

"Nothing. You're our guests, you shouldn't have to deal with Colby's messes. He's always getting in trouble like this. He broke a hideabed twenty years ago because him and his brother were trying out wrestling moves." Mrs. Franklin said as she got a spray out of the bottom of the sink.

"Where is his brother? I wanted to apologize…"

"You're not apologizing to him." Mrs. Franklin interrupted. "Look, sweetie, my son didn't know much about you. Cait told me that you love animals and she knew that you have a problem with traveling by plane. You need your time to adjust. Sometimes I need to have my own quiet time after dealing with Black and Brave and that frat house Colby set up in Moline."

Dottie didn't know what to say or do. It looked like Cait and Mrs. Franklin had everything under control, Kevin came in from outside and ran up to her.

"Do you mind if Dottie and I take Kevin for a walk?" Fergal asked the older woman.

"Sure, that would be long enough to get this kitchen aired out and the pizzas would have arrived by then."

"Do I have to look nice for Thanksgiving? Do I have to do anything?"

"Come as you are, and no you are not doing anything." Mrs. Franklin said. "You're our guests here."

"But…" Fergal took her hand.

"Right now, we need to talk about something." Fergal said. "Where is Kevin's leash?"

"Next to the front door as you walk in." Mrs. Franklin said as she turned to get back to cleaning.

Dottie tried to ask Fergal what he wanted to talk about but he didn't answer her as he led her out of the kitchen with Kevin in tow. He handed Dottie a black leather leash and she hooked it to Kevin's collar before they got their jackets on and then left the big house.

"What did you want to talk about?" Dottie asked.

"Nothing." He said as he took Dottie's hand. "The conversation seemed to be upsetting you. I figured you would have liked to leave and take a walk."

The sun was lower, it was getting dark later and later because it was heading into the winter season. Next month would be December and that meant a lot of stuff going on for the company. If her mind was right, she did not get her monthly schedule for December yet.

"What are we doing for Christmas?" She asked as she looked at him.

Fergal sighed, closed his eyes for moment and then opened them.

"I'll be performing."

"But…"

He pulled her under his arm. "I always video call my parents, and my siblings on Christmas anyway. I would rather spend any and all time with you, Dottie."

She looked down. "It means I won't spend time with Dad for my first Christmas. Because if you work, I work."

"Such is life when you're with the WWE. A lot of us have to sacrifice our time away from our families."

Dottie nodded. "Do you think Cait will want to come on the road again before she gets too much bigger as the baby grows?"

"I don't know, you may have to ask her yourself." His grip tightened on her shoulders.

The neighborhood where Colby lived was upscale, or more suburb. Whatever it was, there was one house that seemed to be decorated too early for Christmas.

The three of them came upon this house that had lights and decorations all over the place. Twinkling lights in trees, there were a few blow up snowmen, even a Santa and his sled out in the large front yard of the two story house.

"Ms. Stephanie wants me to start working on going out to the ring." Dottie said as she looked at the corner of the yard where there was a Nativity Scene, where there were statues of donkeys, sheep and a camel looking at the Baby Jesus in the manger. "The way she talks makes me worried that she won't let me get used to the idea."

"Then we should start with house shows. Do a small skit with you and Drew. But we will have to put it through with her and the writers. That's how it works. They make the storylines."

"I like that idea." She smiled. "Drew I can trust, especially with Colby in a storyline with Jon. He could show me the ropes. How do you run ropes. That is a phrase I had heard before, several times. How do you do that?"

He smiled at her and began explaining even the simplest wrestling terms for her.

They stayed out for a while, going around the block, which had a park nearby. Fergal had Dottie hold Kevin in her lap as he pushed her on the swing for a little bit. It was one of those times where she laughed, her boyfriend acting like a little kid was so cute especially when he got in the swing next to her.

"Watch me, Dottie." He said as he was swinging higher.

"Fergal, don't jump off that high."

But he didn't listen to her. He jumped out of the swing on the highest of arcs and dropped down to his feet, before rolling. Similar to what he did when an opponent would get out of his finisher, the Coup De Gras, but he ended up on his back and stayed there. Dottie dragged her feet to stop herself and as Fergal lay there on the ground, she ran up to him.

"Fergal! Fergal!" She cried as she looked down at him.

His eyes were closed, he wasn't moving and that scared her the most. She did know CPR. As she tried to get him to wake up Dottie put her hand on his chest and leaned down to see if he was breathing.

The next thing she knew, Fergal grabbed her up and Kevin was dropped. She was rolled on her back in the frosty grass of the playground and her boyfriend was over her, pinning her hands on either side of her head. He was smiling.

"Got ya, Lovely."

"You scared me, Fergal!" She fought to get her hands free. "Why did you do that? Why would you do that?"

"Because," he leaned down so that his face was close to hers. "I love how you care for me."

"So you just pretended to die because you wanted me to help you? Why? That's foolish, you could have actually hurt yourself. You…"

He quieted her by kissing her.

* * *

 **Hope you liked this update. I'm doing one more chapter. See you then.**


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Thanksgiving Day came and because Colby's kitchen wasn't suitable for turkey roasting, Dottie and Fergal were shuttled off to Mrs. Franklin's house. It was Colby's stepdad that welcomed them into the house.

"Cait," the man said. "Good to see you again."

"Hey, Mark. Mark, this is my sister Dottie and her boyfriend Fergal Devitt." Cait said.

The man had grey hair, and Dottie smiled at him as she held Kevin in one arm after shaking his hand in greeting. "Hello, Mr. Franklin."

"I've heard quite a bit about you from your sister." He said.

The front room looked old fashion, not like Colby's house that was more masculine. This house looked like a family home. It appeared to have been lived in for a long time.

Dottie glanced at Fergal as Mr. Franklin took their jackets. That was because Brandon Lopez had come out of the kitchen. He was dressed similarly to Colby, another thing to take note of.

"Hey," he said with a wave a hand. "Colby, come on, help me with the mashed potatoes."

"He caught his kitchen on fire, why would you allow him in the kitchen here?" Cait asked.

"I'm not that bad. At least not when I'm dead tired." Colby said, stuck his tongue out and headed into the kitchen. "Besides, you're peeling potatoes, Cait."

Dottie didn't know what to do, she kept looking around as she stood to the side in the front room. Brandon, when she looked at him, walked up.

"Hey, Dottie, I wanted to apologize about my behavior yesterday."

She didn't know what to say. Fergal touched her arm and he smiled. When Fergal nodded she did as well.

"Okay," Dottie looked at Brandon. "I forgive you. I know it's not easy to deal with my quirks."

"Well, getting a tongue lashing from my younger brother really sort of woke me up. You mean a lot to him. And now I get to be a first time uncle."

"I'm making clothes for my baby nephew or niece. Only when I have time, I'm usually mending things with the company. Drew McIntyre rips his performance coat a lot."

Brandon rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I promised my mom that I would help in the kitchen."

He excused himself and left. Kevin licked Dottie's hand and she put him down.

"What do we do?" Dottie asked.

"What do you mean, Lovely?"

She motioned around them. "Everyone is doing something, we're not doing anything. I want to help."

"Mrs. Franklin said we didn't have to."

Dottie huffed and looked around. There was a large oval table with chairs around it. There was no coverings or anything like that. There was no table cloth, or silverware, dinnerware or anything of that nature.

Cait was in the kitchen peeling potatoes while Mrs. Franklin was prepping the turkey. Colby was the one that was standing taller than all the rest of them but he was glaring at the stove top like it was an opponent.

"Did you need something, Dottie?" Cait asked.

"I want to do something." Dottie said. "Like help or something."

"You're our guest, Dottie. You don't have to do anything." Colby's mother said.

"My Mom said I couldn't do anything."

Everyone stopped working and looked at her. Fergal walked up to her side and put his arm around her hips. She did it again, she brought up something sad or bad or whatever.

"One time, I tried to help with dinner but she smacked me when I spilled food on the counter. She said I was too stupid to be in a kitchen." Dottie rubbed her arm. "I know I'm not, I know I can do something. So, could I make the table look pretty? With a tablecloth and put out the silverware and...just do something." Her wrist twisted at her side. "I just want to feel like I'm helping."

"Okay," Mrs. Franklin said. "Okay. You can set up the dining room table. That would mean one less thing for me to do. The China hutch has everything in it right there." She pointed to a large glass case thing that stood on the other side of the dining room.

"Thank you, Mrs. Franklin." Dottie smiled at her and turned to go do her newly assigned job.

"Can I help, Dottie?" Fergal asked.

"Of course."

Dottie needed to get everything right. She needed to get a nice tablecloth that would go with the theme of the holiday. There was a light brown, almost a golden brown tablecloth in the bottom drawer of the china hutch. Not trusting to put candles out, Dottie did put out white dishes. There wasn't any silverware in the china hutch so she went back to ask for some.

It was simple. There were, as Dottie counted them, Colby, his mom, stepfather, brother, Cait, Fergal and herself, so that was seven people. Eight if she counted the baby growing in her sister's stomach.

When it was all said and done, there was nothing else that needed to be done.

"May I go outside, Mrs. Franklin?" Dottie asked.

"Of course, you don't have to ask to do that." The older woman said as she was putting the turkey in the oven.

Fergal and her went out onto the back deck. They were bundled up in their jackets and Kevin ran around.

"So," Fergal grabbed her leg and draped it over his lap. "Do you like Thanksgiving so far?" He asked.

"So far, it's okay. It's a little unnerving that Brandon said the things he said yesterday but I now know he just doesn't understand me."

They sat for awhile, just holding each other. Fergal's beard had started to grow out again and it tickled the side of Dottie's face as she laid her head on his shoulder. The way his hand rubbed her thigh was light.

"You scared me with your joke yesterday." Dottie said.

"I know." Fergal mumbled. "But I made up for it last night. And we didn't even wake your sister."

"Fergal," she whined as his hand went a little further up her thigh, hinting at the activities he'd done.

He had called it heavy petting, but he left her panting.

Pushing Fergal's hand back down to her knee she leaned back and looked at him. "What do you want to do when we go back on the road?" She asked.

"Whatever you want to do."

"No, no. I read a book on dating girls with autism and we tend to be selfish, in a self preservation sort of way. I have to understand that you have a life and that you have to do something that doesn't revolve around me." She found the string to his hoodie rather appealing to play with.

"What I want to do is to be with you. But if you want to do something with me, I did agree to go out to a pub with a group of the guys, some of the women are going to come with us. So if you want to go, you are invited."

"I won't have to drink alcohol will I?"

"No. No, of course not. I wouldn't force you to do that, Lovely."

"Then I would like to go."

Dottie laid her head against his shoulder again and watched the skies getting darker and then felt the air get colder.

* * *

By the time dinner was ready to eat, there had been a few snowflakes coming down. Inside where it was nice and warm, Dottie sat between Cait and Fergal, with Colby on the right side of Cait.

"Why is your phone going off, Colby?" Cait asked.

"Sorry, I posted something." He clicked his phone to silent. "Do you post a lot of your pictures on Instagram, Ferg?"

"Not as much, not since the whole fiasco with the girls' biological mother." The crazy woman that tried to kill Fergal, twice. "People were being rude about Dottie so I started to slow down on posting anything about us."

"Shit," Colby said.

"Not at the table, it draws flies." Mrs. Franklin said. "Why, what's wrong?"

Cait had taken her phone out and did something on it. "Oh you big piece of shit." She glared at him. "Why did you post that?"

"Because it's sickening cute. I think Drew is keeping it Kayfabe, too."

"What? Let me see, Cait." Dottie tried to get to the phone. "Please, Cait. I want to know."

Besides the special language that was Twitter, like the symbol and then that weird Hashtag # thing, there was a picture of her and Fergal cuddled up together on the back deck.

" FinnBalorForEveryone, you don't deserve her. DMcIntyreWWE." Dottie read out. "That is your Twitter handle name, Fergal. And that is Drew's handle name" She showed him the device. "What does that mean?"

"He's directing his comment towards me."

"But he doesn't really mean that, does he? It's that Kayfabe thing, I don't want him to actually be mad with you."

Fergal nudged her shoulder with his. "He's not. But he has to seem like the bad guy that he is in the show while out of it."

"#Thankful for Love." Cait had read the caption under the image after she took the phone back from Dottie. "Coming from you, Big Guy, you do turn into a sap once in a while."

"Hey, I'm being serious. For once." Colby swirled his mashed potatoes around. "I should have just uploaded that to my personal Instagram. Sorry, Dottie, Ferg."

Dottie shook her head. "I am thankful for love, too. I love you like a brother. I, of course, love my little sister. I love that Fergal is with me so I don't have to feel alone. I love that I have a friend like Drew to be there for me when no one isn't around. I love that I now have an unofficial sister named Renee, and her asshole husband."

Mr. Franklin coughed on some of his food when she said that. Mrs. Franklin handed him a napkin to cough into.

"So, yes. I am thankful for the love that I have in my life."

Fergal smiled at her when she looked at him. There was still some food stuck in his beard so she took his napkin and got it for him.

"Messy," she mumbled as she got the food out of his beard.

"Love ya, Dottie." He said after he finished his bite of food.

It was a good Thanksgiving. It was a shame that Colby, Fergal and herself had to go back on the road afterwards.

The meal was good. They talked about things, mostly about Colby's wrestling school that was going on in nearby Moline, Iowa. After the meal, and some pumpkin pie with a large dose of whipped cream for Dottie, they said their farewells to Colby's family and left to go back to Colby's home.

In the room they were staying in, Dottie laid with her head on Fergal's stomach. His hand was rubbing hers while she counted his abs and danced her fingers across his pectoral muscles. They weren't alone, Kevin was laying in front of Dottie.

"I got you something, Lovely." When Fergal said that she lifted her head to meet his gaze. "I was a little worried to give it to you during supper."

He reached under his pillow and pulled something out. Dottie sat up to get a better look only to realize that it was a small black velvet box. Fergal sat up as well.

"I wanted to do something different with you, but something special just the same." Fergal opened the box and looked in. "Dottie, we haven't been together long, but it has been long enough for me to know that I really care about you, to the point that it hurts when you're not around."

"Okay."

He sighed. "One of these days, I want us to be together for a long time. But this, this is my promise." He turned the box around and showed her.

It was a metal band, silver in color with a pair of hands holding a heart with a crown. There were intertwining swirling knots on the band of the ring and the crown had a red stone in it.

"This is a claddagh ring. This is a popular ring from Ireland. I asked me dad to have this made for you. The hands represent friendship, the heart is love and the crown means loyalty. That is a ruby, bright right, like your heart, your hair and your favorite color is read."

Dottie had the words in her head but the process of getting them out through her mouth had been a problem.

"The Claddagh is often seen as an engagement right, even a wedding band. But I want this to be a promise. Dorothy O'Connor, I promise to love you and let you grow. I promise to be the man you need. I promise that one day I will take you back to Ireland to see your land of birth."

She looked into his eyes.

"I promise to love you while we are still together. I promise that one day, when you are ready, I will ask you to be my wife. Do you accept this ring and those promises?"

"Yes."

He took her hand and slid the ring onto her right hand, not her left. "The point of the heart that points towards your wrist means that you are in a relationship." He explained quietly.

The ring felt right on her hand. When Fergal pulled his hands back Dottie launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body into his as she kissed him.

That was just one more thing to be thankful for when it came to Fergal. He always kept his promises.

* * *

 **Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this story. I particularly enjoyed the end with the promise ring.**


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